'France is wounded'
2005-11-09 07:55
Paris - Rioters shrugged off emergency laws that took effect on Wednesday, as they looted and burned two superstores, set fire to a newspaper office and paralysed France's second-largest city's subway system with a firebomb.
President Jacques Chirac announced extraordinary security measures, which began on Wednesday and are valid for a 12-day state of emergency, clearing the way for curfews after nearly two weeks of rioting in neglected and impoverished neighbourhoods with largely Muslim communities.
Officials were forced to shut down the southern city of Lyon's subway system after a firebomb exploded in a station, a regional government spokesperson said, adding no one was hurt. Transport officials were to decide on Wednesday morning when service could resume, the spokesperson said.
Rioters looted and set fire to a furniture and electronics store and an adjacent carpet store in Arras, in the northern Pas-de-Calais region, national police spokesperson Patrick Reydy said. Arsonists also set fire to the Nice-Matin newspaper's office in Grasses, in the southeast Alpes-Maritimes region, he said.
Army not called in
Nine buses were set ablaze at bus depot in Dole, in the eastern Jura region, Reydy said. A bus exploded in Bassens, near the southwest city of Bordeaux after a firebomb was thrown into
Youths threw gasoline bombs at police who retaliated with tear gas in the southern city of Toulouse.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, tacitly acknowledging that France has failed to live up to its egalitarian ideals, said discrimination was a "daily and repeated" reality in tough suburbs, feeding the frustration of youths made to feel that they don't belong in France.
"France is wounded. It does not recognise itself in these devastated streets and neighbourhoods, in this outburst of hatred and of violence that vandalises and kills," Villepin said. "The return to order is the absolute priority."
Police say rioters have been using mobile phone text messages and the internet to organise arson attacks. Police on Monday arrested two teenagers accused of using the internet to incite other youths to riot.
French regional officials were preparing to use the state of emergency powers to impose curfews.
Curfew violators face up to two months in jail and a $4 400 fine, the Justice Ministry said. Minors face one month in jail.
The army has not been called in.
- AP